The fact that speeches and final resolution of the Arab summit focused so much on the Palestinian question does not mean that those potentates give a damn about Palestine but it means that they are aware that their subjects still care a great deal about Palestine.

"According to the U.K.-based organization Airwars, which tracks allegations of civilian deaths in airstrikes, out of 1,257 claims of deaths in U.S.-led coalition airstrikes this month, a record 337 have been assessed as being “fair,” meaning that there is a reasonable level of public reporting of the alleged incident from two or more generally credible sources and that strikes have been confirmed in the vicinity on the day in question."

Citing a US military spokesperson here: "“ISIS is smuggling civilians into buildings so we won’t see them and trying to bait the coalition to attack.”" Poor US military. They were just baited. Can you imagine the Times citing a Russian military in this manner to justify Russian bombing of civilians in Syria?

"Syrians who flee their country either go into refugee camps in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon or else seek asylum in the West. Where are the Gulf Arabs and other rich Arab states? They have not offered to welcome the millions of Syrians who are bereft. In 2014, Amnesty International produced an important report—Let Out in the Cold—that pointed to the failure of the Arab states to welcome even one Syrian refugee."

"The link between the death toll in Yemen and the sale of arms by British companies to Saudi Arabia can be seen in two new charts produced exclusively for The Independent. As the conflict enters its third year one shows that the UK has licensed an estimated £3.3bn in arms sales to the oil rich Middle Eastern kingdom since it began. In the same period, a second chart indicated that 4,773 civilians have been killed and 8,272 injured." (thanks Amir)

From Ali: "You may be interested in the following story as you periodically post on the plight of domestic workers in the Mideast.

A maid in Kuwait fell 7 stories (but thankfully survived). She was hanging from a balcony and her employer recorded the fall with their phone rather than offer help. The youtube video has been deleted but I have attached a GIF and alternate link of the video.

"Rights group Amnesty International said a court in the United Arab Emirates had sentenced a dissident professor to 10 years in prison for online activism on Wednesday, calling the move a violation of free speech. State news agency WAM reported that an appeals court in the capital Abu Dhabi had sentenced an Emirati national, referred to only by the initials N.A.G., for social media activity. It quoted the court as saying the sentence was for "communicating with secret organizations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, by creating accounts on social media and publishing photos and articles that are offensive to the state’s symbols and values, its internal and foreign policies and its relations with an Arab state". Amnesty International identified the sentenced man as prominent dissident Nasser bin Ghaith."

Look at this disgustingly pedpholic message. Lebanese Forces have been pretending that they are progressive on social issues. So they had this poster against early marriage and the poster says: "Don't pick her before her time (or before she is ripe)."

"Ms. Epperlein conducts her inquiry armed with a giant, fuzz-covered microphone and adorned with a pair of heavy black headphones. This equipment looks a bit comical, but its presence is as much a declaration of ethical principles as an arresting visual joke. The Stasi took pictures and made recordings in secret; its surveillance was stealthy, invisible. Ms. Epperlein — who with her cropped blond hair and regal bearing resembles Robin Wright in “House of Cards” — becomes a walking emblem of honesty and transparency, an embodiment of the documentary ideal." Mocking Karl Marx in the US. How brave.

Having played Paintball with Hizbullah before, this writer is now playing ping pong. In return, the party divulge its secrets to him having been very pleased with his previous article on paint balling. "“Yes, a warning came from the CIA,” said a Hezbollah internal security commander who spoke on the condition that he not be identified because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. “They passed us this information through the mukhabarat (military intelligence), but we had our own information about the bombs.” One Lebanese official who was at the meeting said the CIA warning included evidence that was “very convincing and scary” because it was so specific. The evidence included phone intercepts and very detailed information on a number of cells operating along Lebanon’s border with Syria, as well as inside Beirut itself."

He reached a mountain top in Argentina and wrote "Don't be sad, our Jerusalem. You are the hope". It is signed by Saudis-against-normalization (with Israel). This while AIPAC is celebrating the new trends in Saudi foreign policy.#سعوديون_ضد_التطبيع

Monday, March 27, 2017

Cambridge, MA – The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School has announced the establishment of The Project on Saudi and Gulf Cooperation Council Security. The project is made possible through a gift from HRH Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia.

"The most recent atrocity was the killing of as many as 200 Iraqi civilians from U.S. airstrikes this week in Mosul. That was preceded a few days earlier by the killing of dozens of Syrian civilians in Raqqa province when the U.S. targeted a school where people had taken refuge, which itself was preceded a week earlier by the U.S. destruction of a mosque near Aleppo that also killed dozens. And one of Trump’s first military actions was what can only be described as a massacre carried out by Navy SEALs, in which 30 Yemenis were killed; among the children killed was an 8-year-old American girl (whose 16-year-old American brother was killed by a drone under Obama)."

"Australian firms have secured contracts to supply military equipment to Saudi Arabia, an autocracy accused of ongoing war crimes in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 civilians." (thanks Amir)

Notice that when protests occur and are repressed in Russia, they are treated in Western media as a sign of repression and brutality. But when protests occur and are repressed in Western countries, they are treated as a sign of lively democracy. You may ask: am I making an analogy between the lousy Russian regime and Western democracies? You bet I am.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

In Arabic (but not in English) Marwan Al-Muasher praises Roma Khalaf and supports her characterization of Israel as racism. He would never writes that in English, and he even criticizes the Jordanian regime for ignoring Rima Khalaf.

"“On another day,” Mr. Taubman said, “Boris reached into his briefcase and pulled out a real pistol, pointed it at me and started shouting in Russian, ‘Communicate, or die!’”" I hope this teaching technique is no more pursued. Just imagine the international uproar if an Arab who teaches Arabic were to resort to this terrible method.

"A non-profitorganizationthat tracks civilian casualties caused by airstrikes in the Middle East said it has shifted nearly all of its resources to track a surge of claims regarding U.S.-led strikes in Syria and Iraq. The group, called Airwars.org, had been tracking deaths caused by both Russian and U.S. airstrikes but said in a statement Friday that it was scaling back its work on “alleged Russian actions in Syria — so as best to focus our limited resources on continuing to properly monitor and assess reported casualties from the U.S. and its allies. Airwars director Chris Woods said the organization will “continue to track Russian civilian casualty allegations on a daily basis,” but will suspend its detailed case-by-case assessments for the near future. “Almost 1,000 civilian non-combatant deaths have already been alleged from coalition actions across Iraq and Syria in March — a record claim,” Airwars said in a statement. “These reported casualty levels are comparable with some of the worst periods of Russian activity in Syria.”"

Some analysts, most prominent­ly Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute, believe that a reconstitut­ed al-Qaeda is now stronger than it has ever been. “With a majority of armed oppo­sition groups holding back on the battlefield due to ongoing attempts to reach a political settlement, HTS’s [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham] insistence on remaining mili­tarily active and in striking back hard at the heart of the regime is buying it invaluable popular cred­ibility…" (thanks Basim)

Look at the different language he uses when the killers of civilians are Americans. Whenever Russian bombs fall on civilians, he refers to that as "slaughter" but he never uses the label about American killing of civilians.

"On March 6, the zoning board in Bayonne, New Jersey, turned down a request to convert an old warehouse into a mosque. Such denials are happening with increasing frequency in the United States. In the 10 years between 2000 and 2010, the Justice Department intervened seven times against local communities that prevented Muslims from building mosques or other religious institutions. In the six years between 2010 and 2016, that number jumped to 17...Trump’s mere presence in the White House is emboldening Americans who see Muslims not as fellow citizens, but as agents of a foreign threat. According to the ACLU, reports of “anti-Mosque activity”—defined as either public opposition to mosque construction or actual violent attacks—which averaged six incidents per year between 2012 and 2014, rose to 31 incidents in 2015 and 83 in 2016. Opposition to granting Muslims land for cemeteries is growing too."

From a reader: "Hello Mr. AbuKhalil. I was reading the Telegraph article about the London killer and I spotted a certain fact and thought I'd point it out to you.

Please read the article but I'll paste what I thought was interesting."Scotland Yard held back key information about Masood. He was born in Kent on Christmas Day 1964 under a different name before changing it by deed poll, but the authorities had refused to release his birth name." Would Scotland Yard call him John Smith if he had changed his name to Smith from Masod? I think not. Here's the full article

Look at the language and notice how many times the word "teenager" appeared in the article: "But officials made it clear that they considered the teenager, who lived in the Ashkelon area of southern Israel, to be the primary source of the threats, though they did not offer a motive. “This is the guy we are talking about,” an Israeli police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, said." Also: "The teenager, who was born in Israel, has a brain tumor that can affect his cognitive abilities and lead to “irrational” behavior, his lawyer, Galit Bash, said. She would not say whether her client, who she said did not have a criminal record, had admitted or denied involvement. Ms. Bash and the father’s lawyer, Eran Rau, who are both from the Office of the Israeli Public Defender, said the young man was an only child who lived with his parents and had been home-schooled, which is unusual in Israel. While most Israelis are drafted into military service, the teenager was rejected, which Ms. Bash said was because of his medical condition. Israeli news media reported that she had said in court that he had the tumor since he was 14." Stop this bullshit. People who get tumors don't go and threaten to bomb synagogues, Jewish centers and airlines. If someone published this about an Arab terrorist, he/she would rightly be accused of sympathy for terrorism.

Notice that the coverage about this case is minimal. Imagine if he was an Arab and not an Israeli. How different would the coverage have been. And if an Arab is 19-years old he would not be called "a teen" or a "boy" in US and Israeli media. Yesterday, the New York Times quickly moved the story from the top stories section to US section.

I posted this on Facebook:"Remember that annoying eye doctor I told you about? The one who asks me every year (whenever I go for an eye exam) about Beirut? Every year whenever I go for my eye exam he asks me: where are you from originally? And I say Lebanon. And then he says: oh, it is terrible there. Oh, it must be violent there. Year after year, I have to go through this, and I can't take it anymore. And every year I realize that he forgot our last conversation a year ago. And I always have to answer him that he is mistaken about his perceptions. But I can't be too firm or too nasty with him because my delicate eyes are in his hands and near his sharp metal objects. But I have had it with him. I was prepared this year. I go in this afternoon and he says: you are from Lebanon, right? I said: yes. He says: it is a mess there, right? I said: not at all. It is safer than any American city. I went on (with plenty of exaggerations): people in Lebanon don't even lock their doors or cars. It is that safe. He then asks: but they did not rebuild Lebanon. I said: no, they did (I did not share my opinion about the lousy reconstruction plans of Beirut). He then stopped. But that was not enough: he goes on to tell me that he worked for five years in Cape Town, South Africa. I braced myself. He said that he visited last year for the first time in 45 years. He said that he was "surprised" that things did not "get worse". He said that he found out that things are the same. I said: they are not the same, Apartheid is gone. He said: oh, yeah, there are political changes. I said: and social changes. He said: yes, there is "black rule" now. I said: no, there is majority rule now. He said: oh, yes. He then felt awkward and asked: have you traveled anywhere recently? I said: i just returned from Morocco and immediately interjected: it is very safe and vary calm--in case you are wondering. I am not seeing this doctor again, and it is high time for him to retire. I am willing to buy his retirement plastic watch for him." And then I heard from one of my former student. It turned out that the same doctor told her recently upon hearing that she was in Hawaii: ""there are no Arabs clubbing you on the head.""

This one of the most stupid pieces that I have seen. It is dumber than the coverage by Nicholas Blanford and Prothro. As long as you invent a "commander", you can attribute anything to him: "“Hezbollah is like the cane that Iran uses,” says Commander Samir". Basically, commander Samir all but said to him: we are a bunch of lousy terrorists and we are tools of Iran. He then proceeded to tell him that they don't care about the Palestinians. I always wonder this: Ibrahim Al-Amin is close to Hasan Nasrallah and to all the top leaders of Hizbullah: yet, those Hizb commanders choose to divulge their secrets not to Ibrahim Al-Amin but to...Jesse above in the Nation. Journalism. Notice that Jesse thinks that the civil war ended in 1985.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

"Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Wednesday that he believes President Donald Trump "has the potential to be a great president," and suggested that the Trump administration's issuance of an emergency order banning passengers from carrying larger electronic devices on certain flights from the Middle East and North Africa to the United States would be good for national security. "I actually believe that Donald Trump — and I told him this when I met with him in December — I actually believe that Donald Trump has the potential to be a great president in sort of the Nixon-goes-to-China way, or Reagan-goes-to-the-Soviet-Union way, if he can find a way to rein in some of the more unhealthy impulses, listen to his staff, bring on a full complement of political appointees who will help him govern," Johnson said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Wednesday."

"For years, Israeli settlers have chased Ibrahim’s tractor, threatened him, yelled at his Israeli soldier escorts, tried to burn his fields and warned that letting him farm would risk bloodshed, according to the Israeli group Rabbis for Human Rights."

Liz Sly assures readers, yet again, for the 340th times, that Bashshar's days are numbered and that the regime is collapsing and that activists told her that, and that the rebels ("moderate" rebels aligned with Al-Qa`idah using car bombs and suicide attacks) are about to take over Damascus. It is a matter of hours, she says.

"At least 30 Syrian civilians were killed in an airstrike by the United States-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants in a rural area of Raqqa Province early Tuesday, according to residents, activists and state television. The coalition said it had no indications that an airstrike hit civilians, but in its daily report on coalition strikes, the United States military acknowledged that strikes were carried out in the area. It said that coalition warplanes carried out 19 airstrikes on Tuesday — an unusually high number for a single day — on a range of Islamic State facilities near the city of Raqqa. The attack, which hit a school in the town of Mansoura, where civilians had taken shelter on Tuesday night, was the second time in a week that Syrians had accused the United States of involvement in a strike that killed dozens of noncombatants. Forty-nine people died last week when American warplanes fired on a target in Al Jinah, a village in western Aleppo Province. United States officials saidthe attack had hit a building where Qaeda operatives were meeting, but residents said the warplanes had struck a mosque where hundreds of people had gathered for a weekly religious meeting."

"I had several young Arabs from around the region tell me that when America lets its own leader get away with lying, hiding information and smearing the press or a political opponent, it is taken as a license by all Middle Eastern leaders, or the leaders of Turkey or Russia, to do the exact same thing and say: “See, the American president does it, why shouldn’t we?”" I bet that this never happened. I bet that he made it up. I mean, those young Arabs are not used to their leaders lying? Those Arab leaders never lied before Trump became president?

"Gone are the days of President Barack Obama haranguing Arab allies about their records on human rights". When was that? When he was selling them billions worth of arms? You want fake news? This is fake news.

I am always amused when I read about Christian celebrations of Muslim conversion to Christianity. It reminds me of the hopes of early American missionaries in Lebanon. There was one Muslim convert from Beirut and they wrote a book about him. They thought that their moment has come. Muslims don't make for good converts as their self-satisfaction within their religion seems to be very high. This story on Fox News is rather amusing. They talk about a conversion by 300, assuming it is real and assuming it is sincere. When I came to US and watched some TV evangelists, I almost believed that American evangelical missionaries in the Middle East succeeded in taking away half of the Muslim population.

"The very idea that Israel is guilty of the crime of Apartheid, one of the two gravest crimes against humanity (second only to Genocide), is, in itself, one that should give everyone pause. But there is another explosion in the report. Israel and its patrons have desperately sought to shelve a discussion about Zionism as a racist ideology. The Apartheid report brings it back to the front. The report renders invalid all those apologetic ‘warnings’ of Apartheid that have been part of mainstream Israeli and American leadership rhetoric for years now (for instance, John Kerry, 2014). The report’s implication is that Apartheid is not something that is soon to arrive or has just arrived; it is something that has been there all along, from the very birth of the state — in the “State’s essentially racist character.” "The discussion is bound to roll back to another shelved document – the UN Resolution 3379 (1975), which equates Zionism with racism."

" “There's levels of torture and for me that was torture," he said. "I mean how can you go ahead and handcuff a person next to each other, for days, let them defecate, let them urinate over themselves, don't [let them] take a shower, don't feed them?" The allegations describe conduct that likely violated the Geneva Conventions and the Torture Convention, both a part of U.S. law, said Andrea Prasow, Deputy Washington Director for Human Rights Watch." "Another military officer who participated in the investigation confirmed Claudio’s version, but asked to remain anonymous. “They weren’t only tied by the hands to each other, when they took them to the latrines they beat them with a stick,” he said."

"The former New Zealand defence minister has admitted for the first time that civilians were killed during a bungled raid by New Zealand SAS troops in Afghanistan in 2010." "The new book says New Zealand SAS troopers, backed by US helicopters and Afghan commandos, raided two villages but that ultimately 21 people were killed and wounded, none of whom were insurgents and most of whom were women and children. The book suggests most were killed by the US helicopter gunships, but that some of the bodies showed signs that suggested they might have been killed by New Zealand snipers in the hills around the villages."

"A Jewish man has been accused of spray-painting swastikas on his own house after he reported the incident to police as a hate crime. Andrew King claimed he found two swastikas on his home in Schenectady, New York, last month." (thanks Amer)

But notice this: there is now a rush to describe the 19-year old citizen as "a teen". NBC News quickly referred to him as an "18 year old". Israeli media are describing him as either a teen or a boy. I won't be surprised if he will be described as a "toddler" by tomorrow. Also, why did the Israeli courts impose a "gag order" on the case? Why is there no release of his name? And where did he obtain the advanced technology equipments which changed his IP address locations? Finally, do you really blame Arabs for subscribing to conspiracy theories?

Having outlined the great potential of Prince Mohammad bin Salman's role and of Saudi leadership in the Islamic world, I raise one more issue of high priority. I would like to address a message to the Israeli people and to Jews around the world. Our Holy Koran confirms that you are an integral part of this region. Your civilization and the history of your ancestors was and still is part of our region’s history. Your State is a product of your civilization as well. You have also left a mark in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, as well as in Najran and Khaibar and Medina, which remains visible to this day.

The policies of the Iranian regime are alarmingly similar to the Nazi policies that aimed to exterminate your people. Thus, the Iranian and Nazi regimes are two faces of the same coin in their enmity and hatred of you and the danger they pose. Nevertheless, please be assured that peace can be achieved, and your historical role in our region secured, within the framework of the Arab Peace Initiative. This process would also promote the achievement of peace with Israel within the framework of the Saudi (Arab) Peace Initiative. If achieved, it will save the region from the flames fueled by the Iranian regime, and also allow Saudi Arabia to openly partner with the many technological advances Israel offers.

Thus, of all the priorities that Prince Mohammed bin Salman must address, the most burning is the need to confront Iran in order to preserve the fate of this region. In today’s political reality, you and we are in the same trench in opposing the Iranian menace, with the terrorism and fanaticism Tehran spawns and exports around the world. In fulfilling the destiny of all our ancestors, neither you nor we can afford to be bystanders in confronting this evil. Let us be united and of one voice in order to save our cultures and civilizations from the neo-Nazi threat in its Iranian guise, for the sake of peace." Notice that this Saudi propagandist conflates the Jews throughout history and in the world with the occupation state of Israel--which is quite anti-Semitic. So according to this anti-Semitic writer, all Jews in history are responsible for the crimes of the occupation state of israel? But he can't help himself because like all anti-Semites they can't be not anti-Semitic. Ironically, the Zionists of the US and Israel welcome the anti-Semitism of the Saudi regime (just as they welcomed the anti-Semitism of Anwar Sadat) as long as it serves the immediate propaganda and military interests of Israel.

Can you stop trying to be cute and publish the products for Western PR companies and do what the Turkish Airline has done (along among all Middle Eastern airlines affected by the new ban): which is to protest the new ban? Jordanian Airline has the wit of the Jordanian royal buffoon.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

"Israeli media have reported that Barghouti, who lives in the coastal city of Akka in present-day Israel, is suspected of tax evasion. The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee accused the Israeli government of “fabricating a case” against him. Barghouti and his wife were detained for 16 hours on Sunday and Barghouti was being interrogated for the fourth consecutive day, the committee said on Wednesday. The committee said the investigation of Barghouti was part of Israel’s “systematic efforts to criminalize the BDS movement, intimidate activists and stop free speech.” Barghouti “has for years been subjected to intense threats, intimidation and repression by various arms of the far-right Israeli government, particularly after it considered the movement a ‘strategic threat’ to its entire system of injustice against Palestinians,” the committee added. Last year the Tel Aviv newspaper Haartezreported that Israel had established a “dirty tricks” or “tarnishing” unit which would target BDS groups. The committee said that the case against Barghouti was an attempt to “tarnish his image and intimidate him.”"

"This Article examines the legal origins of Arab-American identity during the racially restrictive Naturalization Era (1790 through 1952), when whiteness was a prerequisite for American citizenship. Ten of the 53 naturalization hearings during this era involved a petitioner from the Arab World. Judges during the Naturalization Era viewed “Arab” as synonymous with “Muslim” identity. Because Muslims were presumed to be non-white, and Arabs were presumed to be Muslims, Arabs were presumptively ineligible for citizenship. But this presumption could be rebutted. Arab Christians could – and did – invoke the fact of their Christianity to argue that they were white. These arguments sometimes secured citizenship for Christian petitioners, but did not always rebut the presumption that every immigrant from the Arab World was Muslim. "

"Beyond the less-than-subtle endorsement of war crimes, there’s another major problem with Bennett’s reasoning - which is that Israel has never been overly preoccupied with civilian-military distinctions in the first place. For one thing, all of the items on his list of “legitimate targets” were already bombed in 2006." "In 2006, most of the estimated 1,200 killed in Lebanon were civilians, including the children slaughtered at close range by Israeli helicopter while attempting to evacuate their villages under explicit Israeli orders. Also obviously qualifying as civilians were the more than 100 refugees wiped out by Israel in 1996 while sheltering at a United Nations compound in the south Lebanese town of Qana."

"Meanwhile, US weapons makers, including General Dynamics, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, profit massively from weapon sales to Saudi Arabia. In December, 2017, Medea Benjamin wrote: “Despite the repressive nature of the Saudi regime, U.S. governments have not only supported the Saudis on the diplomatic front, but militarily. Under the Obama administration, this has translated into massive weapons sales of $115 billion.” At this critical juncture, all member states of the UN must call for an end to the blockade and airstrikes, a silencing of all guns, and a negotiated settlement to the war in Yemen. The worst malefactors, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, must abandon cynical maneuvering against rivals like Iran, in the face of such an unspeakable human cost as Yemen is being made to pay. U.S. people bear responsibility to demand a radical departure from U.S. policy which exacerbates the deadly tragedy faced by people living in Yemen." (thanks Amir)

""Those kids in Cancún were raised on what is in effect a giant pirate ship masquerading as a country, the children of unending war, taught to believe that their jurisdiction is universal, their writ is global, even as their resentment—a feeling that they live in a nation under siege—is exceptional. Build that wall. ""

Comic by Terry Furry, reproduced from "Heard the One About the Funny Leftist?" by Cris Thompson, East Bay Express

As'ad's Bio

As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants.

The comments that appear in the comments' section are unedited and uncensored. The thoughtful and thoughtless, sane and insane, loving and hateful, wise and unwise ideas that they contain do not represent the Angry Arab. They only represent those who write them, whoever they are.